1. Field of Invention
The invention is directed to couplers or collars having one or more axially movable slips disposed therein for connecting oil and gas well casing and for hanging a liner within the casing and, in particular, to couplers having the slip initially disposed behind a moveable cover that is moved to permit setting of the slip.
2. Description of Art
A liner is a tubular member that is usually run inside of wellbore casing of an oil or gas well and suspended within the wellbore casing. Liners are typically secured within a wellbore by toothed slips that are located on liner hangers. The slips are set by axially translating them with respect to the liner hanger mandrel or housing. As the slips are translated axially, they are cammed radially outward by a ramped surface that is fashioned into the mandrel. As the slips move radially outward, the toothed surfaces of the slip will bitingly engage the inner wall surface of the wellbore casing. This type of arrangement is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,368 in which slips are radially expanded by riding up over cone elements disposed into the tubular body of the central mandrel.
Actuation systems for such slips in the past employed full circumference hydraulically actuated pistons to move the slips. These designs presented a pressure rating problem in that the full circumference piston frequently had a maximum working pressure significantly lower than the mandrel which it surrounded. Thus, this type of design limited the maximum working pressure in the string to the rating of the cylindrical piston housing assembly. For example, it was not unusual in prior designs to have mandrels rated for 12,000 PSI while the surrounding cylinder housing for the cylindrical piston to only have a rating of approximately 3,000 PSI.
In an effort to improve the shortcoming of this design, another design illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,288 was developed. In this design the mandrel body received a pair of bores straddling each of the slips. A piston assembly was mounted in each of the bores with all of the necessary seals. The application of hydraulic pressure in the mandrel into all the piston bores actuated the pistons on either side of each slip through a common sleeve to which all the slips were attached. This design, however, was expensive to manufacture, had many potential leak paths in the form of the ring seals on each of the pistons wherein each slip required two pistons.
On the other hand, this design provided for a higher pressure rating for the liner hanger body and also used the hydraulic pressure directly to actuate the slips. Necessarily, it did not include a locking feature against premature slip movements due to inadvertently applied pressures. The design in U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,288 also did not provide for flexibility for changed conditions downhole which could require additional force to set the slips. In essence, each application was designed for a pre-existing set of conditions with field variability not included as a feature of that prior art design.
These prior liner hangers also required use of devices and structures that increase the overall outer diameter of the liner hanger. Therefore, these liner hangers result in a reduction of usable diameter within the well. This is because the liner hanger is carried by the liner which requires the liner to be of a smaller diameter than the casing against which it is set or hung. The liner is then set within the annular space between the liner and the casing. Once set, the useable diameter of the well (i.e., the diameter through which production fluid can flow or tools can be passed) becomes the inner diameter of the liner. However, the components of the device securing the liner within the casing (including slips, elastomeric seals, setting sleeves and so forth) inherently occupy space between the liner and casing. For example, a wellbore having standard 21.40 lb. casing with an outer diameter of 5 inches, would have an inner diameter of 4.126 inches. It would be desirable to run into the casing a string of tubing, i.e., a liner, having an outer diameter of approximately 4 inches, which would allow for a liner with a large cross-section area for fluid flow and tool passage. However, the presence of the liner setting components on the outside of the liner will dictate that a smaller size liner or tubing string (such as 2⅞ inches) be run. Over an inch of diameter in usable area is lost due to the presence of both the liner and the liner setting device that is set within the space between the liner and the casing.
With respect to the slip assemblies, in the past those slip assemblies also have been configured in a variety of ways. In one configuration, when the slips are actuated, the load is passed through the slips circumferentially through their guides or retainers and transmission of the load to the underlying mandrel is avoided. In other more traditional designs, the slips are driven along tapered surfaces of a supporting cone and the loading that is placed on the supporting mandrel is in a radial direction toward its center, thus tending to deform the mandrel when setting the slips. Typical of such applications are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,762,177, 4,711,326 and 5,086,845.
In another prior attempt, illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,277, the liner hanger has an actuating piston that releases a mechanical latch that is restraining a set of springs. Once the latch is released, the springs set the slips. The liner hanger in this patent is also designed with a separate spring housing that restricts the total number of springs that can be used and is difficult to assemble.